Wednesday, August 6, 2008

New Jersey and You

I'm fiercely proud of my little home state - it's a humble place, if you will. Small in size, crammed to capacity (supposedly, the 9th most populous state), the little brother to New York City and the cousin to Philadelphia, taking the brunt of many juvenile jokes of those just jealous that they don't live here. Scandals? Sure. Corrupt government? No doubt. Mobsters and mysterious meetings at abandoned loading docks? Possibly. More likely, you've watched too many Sopranos episodes. What about our beautiful natural beauty of the shores, the mountains, the Pine Barrens, quaint Victorian towns? What about the strong-willed, down to earth people - always the underdog? There is so, so much more about our state that I love. Truly.

You know what else is great about Jersey? The amount of talent that comes pouring out in a continual flow. There are countless actors/actresses, musicians, authors, just to name a few categories, that are astonishing (and by the way, rarely do you ever see one of these "celebrities" deny their connection to the Garden State. Coincidence?) And then, there are the poets.

A few weeks ago, Alfred Corn blogged about a recent trip to NJ to visit the haunts of our most noted poets. He asked, "I wonder if anyone has written an article or book about poetry and the Garden State?" Yes, Mr. Corn - quite a bit.

Even though our most noted poets are long gone - and we don't even have a state poet laureate, the scene is still alive. Heck, even the South Mountain Poets meet at my local library (no - I haven't mustered up the nerve to attend their meetings. I think it's residual after I was told at my first poetry club meeting in college that my poem was "sing-songy" Maybe one day...)

So, here are some worthwhile sites for those from NJ...or those who want to see what our little state has to offer: